Show Notes:

Today is a special joint episode across my main podcast ‘Wedding Pro’s who are Ready to Grow’ and my brand new bootcamp.

Not been through the bootcamp yet? Join for FREE right here:

https://go.beccapountney.com/bootcamp

Today I’m chatting with my client Clare Warren from Clare Warren Calligraphy about how she has gone from feel overwhelmed and out of love with her wedding business to finding the joy again.

Clare has recently graduated from my ‘Wedding Business Builder’ Programme so she talks in detail about her learnings and how it’s impacted her life and her business.

Think it’s time to enrol on the programme yourself? You can find all of the details here:

https://go.beccapountney.com/businessbuilder

Find out more about Clare:

Website: https://www.clarewarrencalligraphy.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarewarrencalligraphy/

Time Stamps:

Introduction [00:00:00] Becca introduces herself and her podcast, “The Wedding Pros Who Are Ready to Grow,” and explains that she will be interviewing Claire Warren, a calligrapher and owner of Claire Warren Calligraphy.

Claire’s journey in the wedding industry [00:03:43] Claire talks about her background in retail visual management and how she got into calligraphy. She also discusses how her business started as a side hustle on Etsy and grew into a full-time business.

Struggles and stumbling blocks [00:06:37] Claire talks about the struggles she faced while building her business, including juggling it with two small children and spending time on the wrong things. She also discusses moments of doubt and the importance of having a supportive community.

Finding Balance [00:09:28] Claire discusses the struggle of finding balance between creativity and making money in her calligraphy business.

Benefits of a Business Course [00:10:29] Claire talks about why she decided to take Becca’s wedding pro business builder course and how it helped her navigate through different areas of her business.

Saying No and Valuing Time [00:14:39] Claire shares how the course helped her realize the value of her time and how to say no to projects that don’t align with her business goals.

Pricing and Packages [00:19:32] Claire discusses how she struggled with pricing and how she used a spreadsheet to determine her worth. She also talks about how she created packages to make it easier for couples to understand her services.

Website Changes [00:24:46] Claire talks about how she made changes to her website, including adding a “book a call” button, to make it more professional and easier for potential clients to navigate.

Results [00:27:21] Claire discusses her first successful booking through her website and how it was a result of the changes she made to her pricing and website.

Claire’s success story [00:28:21] Claire shares her success story after implementing changes from the course and how it has paid off.

Benefits of the Business Builder Course [00:29:18] Becca and Claire discuss the benefits of the Business Builder Course, including the value of the feedback and connections made with other wedding suppliers.

Claire’s future plans [00:32:08] Claire shares her plans for the future, including exhibiting at a wedding show and becoming one of Norfolk’s top wedding suppliers.

Transcript:

Clare: I hand write on the day wedding stationary and signage. That is what I do. That is my business. And you know what? Now I just feel really confident in being able to say that, you know, a sign for a styled shoot could take me four to five hours to write. Well, if that shoot isn’t quite on brand, it’s not really gonna give me back what I want. Then what else could I use those four to five hours to do? And so I learned that my time actually has this value and it needs to be spent in getting the most return. And then I also need to charge correctly for that time.

Becca: I’m Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker and blogger, and you are listening to The Wedding Pros who are Ready to Grow podcast. I’m here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level. If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business doing what you love, then you’re in the right place.

Let’s get going with today’s episode. Today’s episode is very special because this is a joint episode airing on both my weekly podcast, the Wedding Pros who are Ready to Grow. And as part of my free bootcamp series, get Visible and Book More Weddings. If you’re a regular podcast listener and you haven’t yet joined the free bootcamp series, you need to do that right now.

Go to the show notes for all of the information and the link to join for free. There’s loads of great content on there that you’re going to want to explore. And if you are here as part of the bootcamp, make sure you are also subscribed to my weekly podcast Wedding Pros Who Are Ready to Grow because a new episode is released each and every Thursday.

Okay, let’s dive in. Today I’m chatting with one of my fabulous clients, Claire. Claire is an amazing calligrapher. Her business Claire Warren Calligraphy specializes in handwriting all of the finishing touches for a wedding day. Claire has recently graduated from my signature program, the Wedding Pro Business Builder, and is part of my Wedding Pro members lounge membership.

I can’t wait for you to hear from her, Claire, or welcome to the podcast. Hi, Becca. It’s so great to have you here. Thank you for being here. Now, just explain to people, anyone listening who might be like, I don’t understand what a calligrapher is. Can you just very quickly explain what that looks like on a wedding day?

Clare: Yeah, sure. So calligraphy is basically fancy writing. It’s not my normal handwriting. It’s more of an art form. And I hand write everything I do so people can use calligraphy throughout their wedding day, in their signage, through their place cards on their table plans, any other little extra details like cake, flavor menus, that kind of thing.

Becca: I’m always really in awe of people that can write calligraphy because my calligraphy, if I ever give it a go, is absolutely dreadful, and it really does make a difference to those wedding signs when you see those beautiful signs in pictures. The writing looks so much different, but I bet lots of people think they can do it, and then when they try and do it realize it’s actually quite difficult.

Clare: Yeah, I, I have quite a few people messaging me at a last minute thinking, oh, I bought a calligraphy set. I was gonna write my own place cards, and then the reality has hit them and it’s all gone very wrong. And that’s where I can step in and help them.

Becca: Well, I have seen your work. It’s absolutely beautiful.

If you’re listening to this and you’ve never seen Claire’s work, do go and have a look at her Instagram or her website. Cause you can see lots of great pictures of her beautiful calligraphy on there. Now Clare, let’s go back to the beginning. So tell me a bit about your story. How did you end up with this business in the wedding industry in the first place?

Clare: So in a previous life I was a retail visual manager. So basically I used to be in charge of a team. We did the window displays, we did Christmas decorations, any promotional material, like basically anything you saw. That’s what I was responsible for. I left that in 2016 to have my son. And I just then needed that creative outlet and something that was just for me and my gran actually does calligraphy, and that’s how it all kind of came about.

And I thought, oh, you know what? She would love it if I learned to. So I enrolled in a course, I picked up a pen. And I just became really passionate about calligraphy and in 2019, I opened up an Etsy shop and thought, oh, you know, we’ll just see how this goes. Maybe this is just a little side hustle to make some extra money around being a mom.

And it started to do really well. People liked what I was selling. People started buying things, things were growing. And then Covid hit. And you know, like a lot of businesses, things didn’t go so well during that time. But actually for me, that was a chance just to reassess where I was at. And I was realizing that I could really turn calligraphy into a business and not just a hobby.

I also had a second child during Covid as well. So it just kind of gave me a chance to step back, reassess, and start again. And then last year I think I definitely took the leap into this is a business. And I launched a website. I started doing wedding fairs. I started networking, and it’s just grown from there.

And it’s just got bigger and bigger and I can’t quite believe that my little hobby that I started at my kitchen table is now a business.

Becca: I absolutely love that, and I think it’s so true for so many people, they start in the wedding industry cause they’ve got that creative outlet and they think, oh, I just wanna do something.

I just wanna do something with my creativity. Then the money starts coming in and then all of a sudden you realize, yikes, I actually have proper full on business on my hands where I’ve gotta do tax returns and all of the other things as well. It can be a little bit overwhelming. So when you had your Etsy store, were you doing things for weddings at that point? Or were you just selling artwork?

Clare: No, I was focusing on weddings. So my gran wrote my place cards for my wedding. And the guests absolutely loved them. And so when I felt confident enough to start selling things, I thought, oh, you know, not everyone’s got a grand like mine who can write as beautifully as mine can, so let’s just try selling place cards and let’s see if I can help other couples have the kind of beautiful details that that I had.

Becca: Wow. I love that your grand must. Been so proud of you to see all of the work that you’ve put into it and that you’ve taken on her passion and now you are using it yourself and crazy. And so often I find that as well when I talk to people, that people have got people in their family that have been their inspiration or perhaps their entrepreneurial or they’ve got their creativity, and I absolutely love to see that pass down.

Through the generations now. You talked about your journey, we talked about covid. We won’t go there because we all know that that was a difficult year. But other than that, from that kinda starting and thinking, right, I’m gonna have this business, I’m gonna do some creativity through to where you are now, what have been some of the stumbling blocks or some of the struggles along the way?

Clare: I think I just didn’t realize how many different elements were involved in running a business. And you have got a lot of plates to spin all of the time. And in all honesty, it’s just been overwhelming and I don’t think I was quite prepared for how much of a struggle it was gonna be. I’ve really found it hard to juggle the business around two small children.

I don’t have an awful lot of time, and I’ve definitely been probably reflection. I’ve been spending time doing the wrong things, and I’ve wasted an awful lot of time. I’ve had definite moments of doubting whether or not I’m doing the right thing. Then I’ve often thought, oh, maybe I could, could go back to a, a nine to five job.

At least I’d get to leave it and come home to my kids. But then that passion for calligraphy, it, it’s just too strong, and I’ve always just kept going and wanted to keep going and wanted it to do well. So.

Becca: Yeah, and I think your struggles are, you’re not alone in that. Like so many people, including myself, we all have those days where we think, oh, it’d be so much easier to just go and work in Tescos and and Jack it all in.

But then we realize, oh, actually no, it’s good to have the freedom. It’s good to have our passion. It’s good to our own thing. Maybe we just need a bit of encouragement, a bit of support, a bit of help along the way, because ultimately we do. You know, we’re not born understanding how to run a business. We need to learn it as well.

And also we need that community around us. We need people who understand what it’s like to encourage us. Along the way as well. Now, I’d love to dive into what you said because you said that there’s some things where you think, looking back, that maybe you spent a lot of time doing a lot of things that weren’t the right thing.

I’d love to get into that a little bit because there might be people listening that we could help avoid doing the wrong things for a long time. So can you gimme an example of something that you think that was just a waste of time?

Clare: I think I got very excited about what I could create for people’s weddings and I spent a lot of time.

Developing some products and some place cards, and they just weren’t necessarily right and they weren’t necessarily me and the direction that I wanted ahead in. I would see things on Pinterest and it would spark this moment of creativity, and then I would go off and find my card and write these place cards and get really excited, and it just wasn’t the right use of my time at all.

It was important to think about the products. Absolutely. And think about what I was trying to sell, but not quite to the degree that I was doing it, because actually I then wasn’t focusing on anything else. I wasn’t thinking about, well, how am I gonna sell this? You know, what is my brand? You know, is this actually right?

I was loading things onto Instagram. That looking back just made no sense there. There was just no consistency. I was just all over the place, to be honest.

Becca: And again, I think that’s a totally normal story though because you, you get into this because you love calligraphy, so it’s really easy to go down a Pinterest rabbit hole, and it’s really easy to find lots of new ideas and it’s really easy to get creative because that’s the part of the business we really enjoy is the writing or the, the doing or the making.

And then all of a sudden we think, oh, this isn’t actually making us any money. Cause we’re just spending all of our time doing the pretty thing. So you’re right, you’ve gotta get to that point of finding the balance between, yes, I wanna be creative, but I also wanna make money from this passion of mine.

Now I mentioned in the intro at the beginning that recently you went through my signature program, the Wedding Pro Business. Builder. Why was that attractive to you? What was it about that program that thought made you think, yeah, I should probably go through this?

Clare: So, when I found the course, I was at a point in my business where I was quite honestly just overwhelmed.

You know, I was having to do all of these things that I’ve never had to do before. I had no experience in designing a website. Social media was just this. Absolute huge headache that I just couldn’t understand. I had to get my head around finances and none of that stuff I’d ever learned in retail. You know, I did pretty things and, and I just thought, you know what?

I need someone, I need an expert that can help me navigate through all of these different areas and just help me take control back. Again. It was just all feeling too much. I think I’d lost love with my business if I’m being honest and wasn’t quite ready to give up, but knew that I had to do something and I had to invest, and I had to just go for it.

I had to just dive in and see what happened. When I found the course, I liked the fact that everyone on the course was at the same level. Some of the other courses I’ve done in the past, you have people at different levels, at different points in their business, and often I found that to be quite intimidating.

And sometimes I came off those courses feeling even more overwhelmed than I did before, cuz I was thinking, oh, I’m not like them. You know, I haven’t got this. I’m not that expert. And so knowing that everyone on this course was struggling, needed some help, wanted a successful business, that was a real driving factor.

To do this course.

Becca: Yeah, and I’m really glad you say that actually, because one of the reasons that I developed it this way is to give everyone the foundations, because I think there’s a bit of vulnerability that comes when we have to admit to ourselves. Actually, I don’t know what to do next. I don’t know how to do that.

And I put out a post on social media. I remember when I first launched it saying It’s okay because I dunno how to do calligraphy. Or I dunno how to do photography. I don’t know how to plan a wedding at this luxury hotel, but I do understand business and marketing. So it’s okay that you don’t understand business and marketing because you can do the other things and that’s why you come together and make something magical.

And that’s exactly right. So if you are listening to this and you are thinking, yeah, I relate to this, I’m struggling, it’s those foundations I need to put in place. It’s okay to come to that realization and it’s okay to think, yeah, I could take a bit of help with this and then I can take that creativity and make it more successful.

Now, when you look back over the modules, so you’ve been through all four of the modules, I know you’ve completed all of them, and the workbooks. When you look back over that, what are the things that stood out to you that you’ve learned from it?

Clare: Oh gosh. There are so many things I learned from this course.

I think even in areas that I thought I was okay with, there was still these little nuggets of advice that I could take and these little tweaks that I could make to my business that just made my life so much simpler. I’d say one big thing I did learn is about taking control of my business. Instead of letting my business control me, I was just drowning in all of the business.

Things that you have to do. And I found myself constantly saying yes to everything, which definitely wasn’t helping. So I was saying yes to shoots, I was saying yes to wedding fairs. I was saying yes to custom calligraphy projects. And one thing that I was really struggling with was saying, no. And this definitely wasn’t helping, but I thought, well, if I, if I don’t say yes, then I’m not gonna have any business and I’m gonna lose customers, and this is gonna reflect badly on me.

So, for example, I often get approached to write out poems for weddings. Now, before I did this course, my business head was like, okay, poems, well, it’s for a wedding. This is great. It’s calligraphy, It’s personal, It’s handwritten. I can charge a little bit more for these poems. So actually this makes, this makes sense.

Why? Why would I say no? So recently I had a mother who had written a poem for her daughter and then wanted to present it on her wedding day, you know, in a little frame, and I said yes, and it took me three days and 14 copies to do this poem. And. If you’ve not done calligraphy before, you won’t know that sometimes when you’re writing the pen just kind of coughs and ink sprays all over the page and there’s nothing you can do about it.

But start again. And I was finding that this was happening usually on the last line that you were writing. So that’s two hours of your time that you’re not getting paid for, and it’s a complete waste of time. And in those three days, I hated calligraphy. I hated it, and all aspects of my business just stopped.

For example I had no work life balance. I was really, really frustrated with myself that I just couldn’t get this simple project done. But after I completed the course, I realized, you know what? I hate writing poems, and it is absolutely okay to say no. You know, I see other calligraphers writing poems and that’s fine.

They can, they can do that. But I hand write on the day wedding stationary and signage. That is what I do. That is my business. And you know what? Now I just feel really confident in being able to say that. And also I realize that if I can say no to writing poems, I can say no to other things as well. And that actually the time that I would get back can be better used to drive my business in other ways.

So, you know, a sign for a styled shoot could take me four to five hours to write. Well, if that shoot isn’t quite on brand, it’s not really gonna give me back what I want. Then what else could I use those four to five hours to do? And so I learned that my time actually has this value and it needs to be spent in getting the most return. And then I also need to charge correctly for that time.

Becca: I absolutely love that it’s music to my ears to hear you saying all of these things because it’s so true and it’s so important. And sometimes we do need to sit down and come to that realization. And I think the exercise of going through a course and go through the workbook, Books and just stopping and reflecting and thinking and writing down the money and seeing it on paper makes you realize, okay, well I’m getting paid x amount for this poem, but it’s taken me three days.

What could I have done in that time that could have made me more money? Or what do I need to charge to make it worth me spending three days on a poem? Right? Yeah. I’ll do your poem, but it’s gonna cost you a thousand pounds. Feel free to book me if you want, but if you don’t wanna pay that, that’s okay.

Goodbye. See you later. Like it’s having, it’s having the control to do that. Now. I know one of the things, so at the beginning of the course, we went through branding and marketing things. Now your branding, everything is great. Your colors are beautiful because you are creative. That’s exactly what you do.

But I know that even in that, there were areas that you learned, there’s been areas that you’ve tweaked. On your website, hasn’t there?

Clare: Yeah, so I, I thought I was great with branding and marketing. That was my job for 13 years. So when I saw that, that was the modules, I thought, oh, you know, I, I should be okay with this.

I should be fine. But actually, you know what, I, I wasn’t, and there were so many bits of the marketing module that I learned that I just wasn’t doing, and I think I was actually making my life really hard. You know, I thought, yeah, got marketing, I’ve got this, I can do this. But I had no plan for it. I was just kind of blagging it and hoping for the best.

And then doing the modules, I realized, you know what, I, I do need to sit down. I need to do this properly, I need to figure this out, and then I need to implement it. And then with, with branding and, you know, the customer journey. So, Again, I thought, I thought I was safe. I thought I had completely nailed that on my website, but in actual fact, you know what?

I hadn’t. And when we reviewed it on one of the Zoom calls with fresh eyes, I realized that actually I was making it quite complicated for my couples to navigate through my website. You know, yes, my branding was great. And yes, from that aspect, it flowed really nicely. But the information that I was putting out there, it, it just wasn’t right.

It needed some tweaking. And that’s one of the things that I’ve spent quite a lot of focus on, on doing and changing. And it’s just made it so much better and I just learned so much about it.

Becca: Yeah. Sometimes as well, you just need that fresh perspective because we’re so involved in our own businesses that we can’t always see the wood for the trees.

And when someone else goes and looks at it, They can point out things that we think, oh yeah, that’s actually really obvious now, but we don’t see it because we spend so much of our time working in our businesses. And then in module four, I know module four is a really difficult one for a lot of people because it’s when we start looking at finances.

So in module four, we go through the finances in detail, we get the spreadsheets out, we talk about profit. We talk about are we actually paying ourselves anything. How was module four for you?

Clare: Module four. I went into feeling quite scared, I knew that pricing. For a lot of people it’s such a headache and I knew that my pricing just wasn’t right.

I also knew that I had no control really over my finances. You know, sometimes months were good, sometimes months weren’t so good. But actually as an overall, I had no clue really how my business was doing. So after completing the modules, I just took a step back. I put my business hat on. And I started looking at pricing.

And you know what? Looking at it from a business point of view, it took kind of that emotion out of it. And that’s what had been holding me back before. You know, some of my products I was looking at and I was thinking, oh, I can’t charge that. You know, there’s no way that someone would charge that. But actually putting on that business hat, I was like, you know what?

My ideal client would pay that. That is what I should be charging because that’s what it’s worth. And you did this great spreadsheet where you can break down, you know, how much a product is and then how much it’s cost to sort of buy the materials and then how much it it costs to do it, and your time and things.

And it made me realize that I was massively undercharging in some areas. Massively. And. Once I’d got that all figured out, you know, it was kind of liberating. It was all of a sudden this, this pricing stress had just completely gone and I was really confident in what I was charging. And then alongside of all of that, my products, it can, it can be quite difficult for couples.

I do so many different things that often they’re like, well, where on earth do I start? Like, what do I need for my wedding? You know, how much is this all gonna cost me? So on your advice, I put together some packages, and this has honestly been one of the best things that I’ve done. It’s just made my life and the customer’s life so much easier.

They can instantly see how much I charge. When they’ve sent me those emails saying, you know what, what? What’s your price? You know, what kind of things am I looking at? I can just ping them across the link to the page and it’s all there and it’s all done, ready for them. And it’s just a really solid starting point that we can then go from there.

And of course, I can explain to them that I can tweak things and we can add things and take things away, but that can all come later. But that basic pricing is there and I am so confident in those prices. That it is just made such a huge difference. One of the other things you’d said as well around finances is opening a business bank account, and you know what?

I did it. And that shift in mindset from, you know what, this isn’t any longer a hobby that I’m selling on Etsy and doing at my kitchen table. That’s actually doing quite well that it is now a business. That change has just been amazing.

Becca: Yeah. And so much of this stuff does come down to mindset and understanding, oh yeah, I’m not just playing at this.

I can do this properly and I can have the confidence to do this properly and charge my worth. And I think the thing is when we get those spreadsheets out and the stark reality of I’m really not making any money from this part of the business, I need to charge more. I think the reason, like you said, that we don’t always charge what we’re worth is emotional because we think no one pay.

Actually when you realize, well then I might as well not bother doing this cuz otherwise I’m just basically giving this stuff away for free or for very little and we have confidence in the prices that we’re charging. All of a sudden we don’t worry about putting those price on our website because we can say, well, that’s what I’m worth.

That’s the amount of hours it takes me if you don’t want it. Then that’s absolutely fine. You can, you can move on. But I know in myself, I can justify it. And I think we’re, we’re frightened that people say to us, why are you charging that that much? That’s too expensive. Which is why we don’t wanna charge it.

But actually confident in that. And we can say, well this is why, because it takes us this many hours and it, you know, I’ve honed my skill for this many years, and if you wanna give it a go yourself, good luck. Because we all know how difficult it’s, and the pen’s gonna explode when you start writing out that poem and you know you’re gonna come right back to me and realize why I’m charging my worth.

I think confidence is so important and it’s so nice for me to see even within the last couple of months of you going through the program, watching you grow, watching your confidence grow and watching you realize, yeah, got a business. And from this. Absolutely. Now, we’ve talked about the things you’ve learned.

I know that you were just the most incredible action taker when you went through the program every week. You were going through things, and then I was seeing changes happening overnight. You worked incredibly hard. What things have you actually gone ahead and implemented over the last couple of weeks? A month?

Clare: Yeah, so I’d said after your website review on that, one of those first Zoom calls that I needed to change my customer journey and that I needed to just streamline everything a little bit. That’s exactly what I did. So I tweaked the layout slightly. So I added in more images. I added in pricing as well. I obviously uploaded all my packages.

And then I think the most significant thing I did was I just added a book a call button into my header, and then I added this button throughout my website. And you know what? It was such a simple thing to do. But it just makes it super, super clear that that is what I want any prospective couples to do next.

It’s book a call and then we can go from there. So the changes to my website. I was already fairly confident in my website, but now I’m like, no, this is right. I’ve, I’ve really, really got this. And it just feels so much more professional and I’m not quite as embarrassed sending people to it anymore. You know, when I link to my packages, it is a page on my website.

They are gonna see what’s there, and then hopefully they will book a call. But I’m just, again, it’s just that confidence. I’m just far, far more confident in actually putting it out there,

Becca: and that’s so important as well. And I often say to people, if you are at a point when you are embarrassed about sending people to your website, that is a sign that you need to do something differently because no one wants to be embarrassed about their business.

Like that’s not the point of it. And if you are listening to this, and again, if you are resonating, then that’s a sign that you need to do something. It’s not because you are not good enough, it’s. Just a sign that you need to learn something new or invest in someone to do your website for you or do something differently.

Don’t stay in that position of feeling icky because that will just transfer over your clients confident and you’re confident in what you charge and you’re confident and your professionalism. People are much more likely to pay your prices and work with you than if they pick up on those vibes that you’re not confident at all.

Please tell me as well, Claire, have you implemented some price rises since going through that spreadsheet?

Clare: Yes, I have. Absolutely. And some of the things that I was really unsure about putting up, actually, it feels so good. And some of them I’ve doubled my prices. But it’s, it’s that confidence of, you know what, yes, that is what I’m worth.

And also that is what my ideal customer would pay to have something that beautiful and that handwritten at their wedding. And that in itself is just such a huge mindset shift. But yeah, all of my prices have gone up. All of them.

Becca: Good. I’m so pleased to hear it because you absolutely are worth it. And one of the things I think to myself when I think, oh, people think that my prices are too high, I have to remember going back to what you said right at the beginning, you’ve got two kids.

That’s why you stopped your working to spend time with them. And actually when. When your work is taking some of that time away from your children, that time is actually incredibly valuable and it does come at a price tag, and we don’t wanna just be giving that away for free. We wanna be making sure that we’re charging our worth.

So you deserve every penny that you are charging for your work, because it’s absolutely beautiful. Now, I know it’s early days, but so far you’ve made some of these changes. Obviously there’s been a big change in yourself and your mindset. Have you seen any results yet from anything you’ve

Clare: implemented? So last week I had my first Zoom call with a potential couple that was booked through my website using that button and using that Calendly link that I popped in there as well.

And you know what? It was just amazing. Terrifying, but amazing. And the couple actually said, oh, you know, we had a look through your website and we really loved what we saw. And to me that was just like, oh, I did it. I did it. Like, and, and the couple are absolutely my ideal couple. Absolutely, if I could write them on paper, that is who I was talking to on this call.

And I’d already sent them my packages list. You know, that they’d already asked about pricing, so I popped them across my packages. So as well, I already knew that they knew what I was charging and that they could afford it, and that they could factor it into their budget. And it was just, it was just amazing.

It was just amazing. And I, I am pretty sure I would not have got them. Contacting me if I hadn’t of done the changes. And implemented the things from the course

Becca: and what great affirmation for you as well to know that all of that hard work, those late nights, the things you’re putting in to make those changes and to upgrade the website and to put the prices up, that’s great affirmation for you to show you that actually yeah, this does work and it will attract the right people.

And I’ve just gotta keep on with that confidence and believe that it definitely will happen and, and that it was. All definitely the right thing. I’m so pleased, and I’m sure that you’re gonna see more of that. The more you keep sending out those packages, the more that you keep showing people your website, the more people are gonna start booking a call and the more and more successful you’re going to become.

Claire, it’s been such a pleasure chatting to you. If people are out there and thinking, I really resonate with what Claire’s saying, I think I need to do something. Maybe I should look at this. Business builder program that Becca’s talking about and they’re on the fence about it cause it feels like a bit of an investment.

What would you say to them?

Clare: So I’d say if you are on the fence about it, then that’s exactly where I was. And actually that’s a really good reason in itself to do it. You’re clearly there because you have this business that maybe you are finding a bit overwhelming. You want a bit more training, you want it to grow and be successful, but you just need a bit of extra help and a bit of a kick in order to get there.

And you know what? This business builder course will a hundred percent get you there. For me, it’s not just move me to the next step. It’s moved me like 10 steps further forward than I ever would’ve been before. I was, you know, considering the cost of the course. So, When I actually enrolled, I had no bookings for the year.

I had zero inquiries. And you know, some people are like, are you, are you crazy? But you know what? The couple that I spoke to the other day, they’re potentially paying me more than the course is worth. So already in that one booking, it has more than paid for itself. I think my other concern and, and some people’s concerns may be around time, but you know what, I’m a mum of two.

I do that full time and time is not a luxury I have, but because the modules are released a week at a time, it’s never overwhelming at how much you have to do. And also the videos are around six minutes. So actually I could easily slot that into my day. You know, sometimes I’d watch it while I was doing some of the ironing and then I could then process what was happening afterwards.

And I just actually found that, you know, time and money and all of those things actually it, it was just so worth it. It was so, so worth it. Plus the Zoom calls that we did and the feedback that you gave was just, Worth so much in itself, and I’ve made connections with other wedding supplies that are in the same place that I am and that I’m not alone, and that everyone else is going through these struggles too.

And that for me is just, has just been amazing.

Becca: Well, I found it amazing to watch your journey in such a short time and to see you blossoming and growing in confidence. And the good news for me is that you are sticking around because you are inside of my Wedding Pro members lounge, as we talked about earlier.

So I get to watch that journey as we go through the next few months and see what you achieve next. Claire, what’s next for you? When you look forward to the next kinda year of your business, where do you see yourself heading next?

Clare: So I’ve just booked to exhibit at the East Anglia Wedding Show next year, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do, but just have never quite had the confidence to do it.

But again, after finishing the course, I was like, I can do this. I’ve got this. So I booked it and in February, that’s where I’ll be, my little girl starts nursery school in September. So all of a sudden I’m gonna have all of this time that I’ve just been missing, but I now know. What I can do with my time.

I appreciate the time that I’m gonna have, and I can now put in plans to use it in the right way Before the course, I think I just would’ve wasted it. I would’ve just been all over the place still and not really focusing on the things that I needed to. Hopefully my business will just keep growing, and I think we’ve definitely moved away from, it’s a hobby.

It’s definitely now a business, and I think my ultimate goal is to be one of Norfolk’s top wedding suppliers. Which having now finished this course, I feel like I’m kind of halfway there and I can do it.

Becca: Absolutely. I believe that you definitely can be, you can get yourself on that map and I’m excited to hear how the wedding show goes when that happens as well.

Make sure you’ve got a copy of those packages ready and available for every single person. And you know what I’m gonna say as well, make sure you collect everybody’s details because you can’t do a wedding show and let them walk away. Claire, I’m so thrilled that you chatted with me today, and I’m so excited to see where this journey takes you next.

You definitely can become one of Norfolk’s best wedding suppliers. I believe that’s definitely where you are headed next, so just keep on going with that confidence. Keep on going with everything you’ve learned and stick to the plan. Don’t fritter away time. Have a look at those plans, look at the numbers and work out.

What you need to do. And remember, you don’t need to do those wedding poems anymore. Clare I always end my podcast with the same question, which is, what’s one thing you wish you’d known sooner in your wedding business?

Clare: I wish I had realized that you really can’t run before, you can walk. I when I started this business, I was just so excited and had all of these ideas, and I became way too distracted in trying to do too many things, and eventually that just led to this complete overwhelm and so much wasted time.

I was very guilty of trying to do everything perfectly that I definitely ended up doing nothing at all, and I just wish that I had known that you need to start small. And it’s okay to start small. You need to start at the beginning and everything will just build from there. Just trust the process. Just be you.

Allow yourself that time just to breathe and to reflect, and then you will be successful.

Becca: So, So true and so good. Thank you so much for your time today, Clare, if people wanna find out more about your business, where’s the best place for them to go?

Clare: Yeah, so you can find me on Instagram and Facebook at Clare Warren Calligraphy.

And then there’s also my website. www.clarewarrencalligraphy.co uk or just reach out, send me an email, send me a message and I’ll happily respond.

Becca: Fabulous. And do go and check out Claire’s work on Instagram And do go and have a look at her website as well. Cause you can go and have a look at that customer journey that we were talking about from her packages through to booking a call.

Claire, thank you for your time. It’s been a pleasure.

Clare: Thank you so much for having me.

Becca: Didn’t you just love hearing from Claire? I know that her story will have resonated with so many of you, and if that’s you and you’re thinking, yeah, this really makes sense to me and I need some help, do get in touch with me.

Find out more about the Wedding Pro Business Builder Program. I’ll make sure that I put all of the information about the program in the show notes. The great thing is that it’s available now and you can join it at. Anytime. So you can do it in your own time, but do go and take action. You don’t wanna waste any more time.

And if you’ve got any questions for me about whether it’s right for you, just reach out to me at Becca Pountney on Instagram or send me an email. All of the details are in the show notes. I’ll see you next time.